


A Ceiling Full of Stars

by sockablock



Series: It Takes Two (Critrole RSweek Drabbles) [3]
Category: Critical Role (Web Series)
Genre: Gen, Modern AU, Yasha is sweet, and so is Jes, critrole rsweek, home improvement takes a turn, part of the 'something new' universe
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-06-20
Updated: 2018-06-20
Packaged: 2019-05-25 20:05:12
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,285
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14984603
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sockablock/pseuds/sockablock
Summary: Yasha paused, and looked down at Jester. “You do not like being inside?”“Well, being inside isn’t the problem. It’s the room,” she shrugged. “That’s all.”Yasha’s brow furrowed. “The room?”“You know. The…the way it is.”“I am sorry, Jester, but I do not understand.”





	A Ceiling Full of Stars

**Author's Note:**

> Welcome to Day 4! Featuring Jester and Yasha, painting a room. (This takes place in the same universe as [Something New for Me and You](https://archiveofourown.org/works/14926323/chapters/34578522))

“This is a lovely color, Jester,” said Yasha as she leaned over the top of the ladder and ran the wall brush across the ceiling. “Did you pick it yourself?”

Jester, standing on the ground and hefting the paint can over her head for Yasha to reach, beamed. “I did! It reminded me of the sky on a sunny day. And even though Fjord said he wouldn’t mind if we painted the room pink, I just liked light blue better, you know?”

Yasha hummed her agreement. “It’s as if you are standing in the open air.”

“Exactly! And, well, I don’t really like being indoors, much. So this is much better.”

Yasha paused, and looked down at Jester. “You do not like being inside?”

“Well, being _inside_ isn’t the problem. It’s the room,” she shrugged. “That’s all.”

Yasha’s brow furrowed. “The room?”

“You know. The…the way it is.”

“I am sorry, Jester, but I do not understand.”

Jester seemed to wrestle internally with something for a moment. Then she lowered the paint can, setting it down behind the ladder. She took a seat on the newspaper-covered floor, and gestured at the space beside her in an invitation to sit. After a brief pause, Yasha placed her brush down carefully at the top of the ladder, hopped down, and took a seat on the ground next to her friend.

Jester twiddled her thumbs and sighed. “It’s just…it’s just…I really like this apartment, I really do,” she said. “It’s got plenty of space for the two of us—which isn’t cheap, you know—and there’s a shower _and_ tub, so I can take bubble baths now, and Fjord just _loves_ this kitchen. And our big couch fits perfectly in the corner, and there’s room for my art easel and a cabinet for his bottled ship collection, but…but there are no windows in here, in the bedroom. None at all. And I don’t…I don’t…it reminds me of being home. Of living with my momma.”

“Did you not like your home? Your mother?”

Jester shook her head, and rubbed at her eyes. “No, no, I did. I loved her very much, and I know she loved me, and I had a lot of very nice things, and the ladies who cooked and cleaned for us were very nice to me. But…but I didn’t really leave my room, much. I…I _couldn’t_ leave my room much. And there was only this teeny window, right above my desk, and I’d have to sit on a stack of pillows to make myself tall enough to look into it. That was the only way for me to see outside. And when I moved in with Beau, I made sure we had an apartment with all this natural light, and huge windows everywhere. It was wonderful. And now…and now…now I feel a little bit trapped.”

Yasha nodded, and Jester remembered that as close as they were, despite all the time they’d known each other, she really didn’t know much about the other woman. 

“I understand,” Yasha murmured. “I do not enjoy small spaces either. Better to see the clouds, and feel the breeze.”

Jester shrugged miserably. “I just don’t want to say anything about it. We looked at so many apartments, and all of them were pretty bad, but this one is _perfect_. I shouldn’t be complaining. It has everything we need.”

“Except for what you need,” said Yasha softly. “It is missing that.”

“So what? It’s got everything else. And there are no more places we can afford that are the right size, and had the…the big windows. We tried. Believe me, I _tried_.”

“So what now? Say nothing, and pretend everything is fine?”

She shrugged again. “I guess. And everything _is_ fine, right? I know I can leave here any time I want. And Fjord will be around, so I’ll never be lonely. I’ve just got to get used to it. I know I’m being dumb.”

Yasha put a hand on Jester’s shoulder. “You’re not,” she insisted gently. “It’s reasonable.”

Jester sniffled. “I know,” she said. “But there’s nothing left to do about it.”

Yasha was silent for a moment. Then she looked around the room once more, and then up at the ceiling, and then back at Jester. She squeezed the tiefling’s shoulder.

“I have an idea that could help? It is not that good,” she quickly added, “but it could help.”

“Well hang on,” Jester said, shaking her head, “I’m sure it’s a great idea. What is it?”

Yasha pointed up, and then back at the paint can. “You said you wanted to make the ceiling look like the sky.”

Jester wiped at her eyes and frowned slightly. “Yes? I did.”

“So what if we also painted in the stars?”

Jester furrowed her brow. “But…but they wouldn’t be out on a sunny day. And the blue is very pale, I do not think they would show up even if we did add them.”

Yasha sighed. “No, well, yes. Yes. But I meant, we could use glow-in-the-dark paint. Molly has a lot of it still, from when he did that mural in his room. And then, if you ever felt like you were trapped in here, if you were stuck inside, you could turn the lights off, and there would be stars above you. And it would be like you were standing under the night sky.” And when Jester continued to stare at her in silence, Yasha’s face flushed slightly and she rubbed the back of her neck and said, “Sorry, I know, that’s not really the same. And I know it’s a very small thing, but I thought—”

She was abruptly cut off as Jester lunged forwards and threw her arms around Yasha’s neck. She buried her face into the larger woman’s shoulder, and nodded emphatically.

“It’s a wonderful idea, Yasha,” she said, slightly muffled. “It’s perfect."

Yasha stiffened for just a moment, before relaxing and wrapping her arms around Jester. A faint smile crept across her face, and she gave her friend a pat on the back. “Of course,” she said softly. “I’m glad you like it.”

“I _love_ it,” sniffed Jester as she had pulled away. “How soon can you get Molly in here with the paint?”

Yasha reached for her phone. “For a project like this, he will probably be here in twenty minutes.”

“Oh, I cannot wait now!” Jester gushed, running her sleeve one last time across her face. “This will be so cool! The coolest thing ever!” And then smiled at Yasha again and said, “Really. I’m lucky to have a friend like you.”

Yasha felt her face heat up ever so slightly. “It was nothing,” she muttered quickly. “It was just a small idea—”

Jester shook her head adamantly. “But it was an idea you had for me. I…I didn’t have a lot of friends growing up, as you know. So the fact that someone cared enough to try helping me is…well, it’s pretty cool. So thank you. You’re a great friend.”

Yasha smiled. “You’re a great friend too, Jester.”

She beamed. “I know! If it weren’t for me, you guys would all be super sick all the time, it’s like none of you have ever heard of Tylenol and chicken soup before. And I’m super duper fun to be around.”

Yasha laughed. “Yes, you are,” she agreed. 

Molly arrived nineteen minutes later, wrapped tightly in a large red coat and carrying two metal cans of paint.

“Delivery!” he grinned, striding through the doorway. “For a Miss Yasha, and a Miss Jester, I believe?”

And then they all got to work.

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading this silly little thing! If you ever want to shout at me about critical role, hit me up [@sockablock](https://www.sockablock.tumblr.com) on tumblr!


End file.
